Tourists throng Gulmarg for New Year bash

Hundreds of tourists and locals thronged the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, in north Kashmir, for the New Year celebrations, but the dry weather played a dampener and disappointed many revelers.
"We had made plans for celebrating New Year in Gulmarg very early in the year. We had heard from our friends that it was the best place to be in winters and it truly is. We enjoyed a lot," Amit Banerjee from West Bengal said.
He said though the celebrations were "awesome", there was some disappointment as the weather played a spoilsport.
"We were expecting it to snow, but to our disappointment, the weather remained dry. It otherwise was awesome," he said.

Another tourist from Gujarat, Rati Lal, said welcoming the New Year amidst snow-capped mountains and meadows is a dream come true and he would love to visit the resort every year.
"We do not get to see snow. I am happy that I visited Gulmarg with my family. It is a dream come true," he said.

However, he said the snowfall could have made the experience much better.
"Gulmarg is famous for snow, so yes we were kind of disappointed as there was no fresh snowfall," Lal said.
Many events were organized by Tourism department as part of the celebrations.

The resort turned eco-friendly for the New Year bash as the first-ever environment friendly celebrations including a digital firecracker show was held.
There were cultural programmes, music performances and a performance by DJ Aki, along with other events aimed at entertaining the visitors.